Colonel (HSK 10)

The Colonel (HSK 10) (Handelsstörkreuzer or trade switch cruiser) was a German Hilfskreuzer (auxiliary cruiser), officially known within the Kriegsmarine as "Ship 14", which during 1943 tried to cross the Atlantic to begin its journey to Japan, Germany's ally, originally called &# 34;Togo". She did not achieve her goal, and she had to return, after several adventures, to Germany, where she was transformed into a guide ship for night action fighters.

Background

In 1939, Captain Ernst Thienemann was head of the new construction bureau at the General Staff of the Navy in Berlin. From his office came the plans for the voyages of the German warships. Captain Bernhard Rogge was the first to put to sea, in early 1940, and in the course of 622 days, until November 1941, he destroyed 140,000 tons of enemy ships with the Atlantis. However, upon returning to Germany she was discovered and sunk by the British heavy cruiser Devonshire. Rogge and several German sailors were rescued from the waters and arrived in Germany aboard submarines.

The Pinguin, commanded by Captain Krüder, was destroyed after May 8, 1941, in combat with the cruiser Cornwall, in the Indian Ocean. But before sinking, she had destroyed 120,000 tons and shipped 50,000 tons of cargo to Germany.

The Kormoran, under the command of frigate captain Detmers, won a brilliant victory by attacking the superior Australian light cruiser Sydney, before the crew sank her due to the damage she received.

Other significant ghost ships were the Orion under the command of Weyher, the Thor commanded by Kähler at the time of the first cruise and by Gumprich in the second cruise; the Komet of Eyssen, the Widder and the Michel under the command of Ruckteschell and the Stier of captain Gerlach.

Transformation of "Ship 14"

One morning in March 1942, an officer entered Thienemann's office, announcing that he was his successor and that he had received command of a ship. He had been appointed commander of the 5,600-ton Togo, a single-propeller ship that drove at 17 knots and belonged to the Deutsche Afrika Linien. Thienemann would be in charge of personally assembling the ship.

The “Ship 14”, the official name of the “Togo”, already has six 150 mm guns and another six 40 mm anti-aircraft guns. It is also equipped with several 20 mm multiple mounts, as well as anti-aircraft machine guns, which represented an appreciable volume of fire. As a result of the turn taken by the war, the possibility of an air attack on “Ship 14” had to be anticipated. For this reason, it had three reconnaissance devices, one on the bridge, ready to go into action, and another two unarmed in the hold.

Its mission would be to reach the English Channel, cross the Calais Pass (when German ships took the opposite route and managed to pass, it was considered a feat), gain the Atlantic and head towards Japan.

The odyssey

The ship, under the command of Captain Thienemann, and with a crew of 350 men, set sail from the German port of Rügen on January 31, 1943. Before setting sail, Thienemann decided to change the name of his ship and the “ Ship 14”, previously called “Togo”, is now called “Colonel”.

The “Colonel” first stopped at the Kristiansand Fjord, in Norway, to complete his weapons and supplies. There, an order from Kiel delays his departure for 24 hours due to bad weather. After that time he sets sail heading north, as if he wanted to reach the Arctic Ocean and at nightfall he turns 180°. In German Bay, Ship 14 encounters a storm that sends a large number of mines adrift. The commander is forced to take refuge on the German island of Sylt, already in the North Sea.

Three days later, on February 7, 1943, he set sail to make the attempt, "camouflaged" as a neutral merchant. The 350 men have disappeared from sight. A Sperrbrecher (vessel intended to detect aquatic mines) preceded the “Colonel”. The channel is not deep, which forces Thienemann to assign a sailor to sing the numbers from the electric probe. The sailor at one point raises his voice: “five meters fifty!”. Commander Thienemann orders to stop the machines and turn back, but it is too late: the “Colonel” finds himself stranded on a reef. She remains there for 45 minutes as the tide rises and the ship floats again. Having overcome the trance without further damage, she continues towards the Dunkirk bar, a no less critical point. In Dunkirk, a similar incident occurs, but it is so violent that it was not possible to react and - what is more serious - the tide goes out. We will have to wait 8 hours until the tide begins to rise again. The stranding has been observed from land, since the “Colonel” is 300 m from the coast and the Germans installed four heavy D.C.A. batteries, which give it relative protection. The weather gives you additional protection, as conditions worsen. Thus the eight hours pass and once again “Ship 14” avoids the incident as it previously did in Kristiansand, Sylt and Helgoland. As she cannot cross the Pas de Calais before dawn, she takes refuge in Dunkirk. Clumsy decision by the commander, since British agents are swarming in the port.

A local pilot and a radio operator from the Luftwaffe board at this port. The “Ship 14” gets moving again within a compact group of twelve minesweepers and passes the Gravelines, halfway to Calais. They enter the Dover radar detection system. A minute later, lightning flashes on the starboard side: it is the 380 mm cannons of the English coast. Eight projectiles raise columns of water between “Ship 14” and the escort ships. The convoy is moving, however, at full speed. Forty minutes later, the convoy is at the mercy of Dover's batteries, but no projectiles hit any ship in the convoy. The British were already warned of what has become the African ship “Togo”, which has remained for a long time in the port of Swinemünde. That is why the British Admiralty establishes a line of advanced posts made up of destroyers and torpedo boats, supported further back by cruisers. For the British it is absolutely necessary that this dangerous ship does not reach the Atlantic. On the German side, they discovered, through radioelectric detection devices, the location of the advanced posts, which was communicated to the Naval High Command; There is no doubt that all this deployment is oriented towards “Ship 14”.

End of "Ship 14"

The Naval High Command constantly communicates to Commander Thienemann in advance any movement observed in the British ships. He suddenly sounds the air alarm. The crescent moon has not set for five days until 10:00 p.m. and illuminates the large ship enough to be located by the bombers. At the moment the anti-aircraft batteries begin to fire, a bomb falls on the bow of the German privateer. The “Colonel” is forced to enter Boulogne to disembark his wounded and return to Dunkirk to repair the damage. The British schedule daily air attacks, increasing in violence, to completely destroy the ship. After fifteen days, a heavy caliber bomb hits the “Colonel” and devastates the command bridge, but does not explode. This forces the operation to be cancelled. The “Colonel” sets sail, but to return surreptitiously to Germany. She remains for a long time in the arsenal, where she is transformed into a guide ship for night hunting, a mission that she will use for the benefit of the Luftwaffe planes. Although a new auxiliary cruiser was assembled, the “Buque 5”, equipped with superior weapons, it was the one that ended the surface privateering war of the German Navy. Commander Thienemann marches to Berlin to place himself under the orders of his new boss, Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz.